


Auribus Teneo Lupum

by Misterlake



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Priests, Background Relationships, Blasphemy, Emotional Manipulation, M/M, Religious Imagery & Symbolism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:01:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22553668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misterlake/pseuds/Misterlake
Summary: Holiness comes at a price; how much will you pay?
Relationships: Ichimaru Gin/Kira Izuru
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

_"The blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me. The mystery of faith--"_

"Save us, Saviour of the world," the words rolled off of Izuru Kira's tongue as easy and natural as breathing. The priest continued his introduction, and Kira felt at home. The church had been his home for twenty years, after all, and the tranquility that came with Sunday Mass reminded him of why he wanted so dearly to be within the four walls.

"For by your Cross and Resurrection, you have set us free." The altar server let the thurifer in his hands swing lightly in his grip, the earthy smell of Frankincense dousing him down to the bone. He watched the priest continue from his spot next to the altar, surrounded by his fellow altar servers. Hinamori to his left, bearing the processional cross, closely flanked on both sides by men with lit candles. Abarai to his right, fidgeting in the anxiety that always came before he had to present the thin wafers to the members.

_"Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honour is yours, for ever and ever."_

"Amen." The word echoed through the church, reverberating off the stained glass windows and up, further and further, up past the clouds and the sky and to where it will be heard by holy ears.

"To assist with the Eucharist today, we welcome Father Ichimaru, the newest ordained member of our clergy," the priest announced, stepping in front of the altar and allowing room to his side. "Let us provide him with open arms and good graces." From within the small congregation of deacons, a man stepped forward to take his place next to the other man.

"Please, partake in the body and blood of Christ," the man lilted, extending his hand to Abarai in demand of the communion plate. Abarai hastily brought it to him, giving a respectful bow of his head, and returned swiftly back to his place.

One by one the pews emptied, people lining up to consume the aforementioned offerings, one by one being endowed with the tokens that kept them closest to God. The altar servers made their way to the back of the line, dutifully waiting until the rest of the churchgoers had finished their ritual.

Kira stepped up last, looking up at the newest member of the priesthood. His hair was shining silver in the myriad of colored light cast down upon him, the sharpness of his jaw and set of his eyes haunting in a way that sent a shiver down the man's spine. Kira wasn't new to Ichimaru Gin; he had been a deacon at the church before his entry into the priesthood, and an altar server back before that. He was devoted, he was precise. He was everything Kira wanted to be. Just to have him glance his way made the altar server practically tremble in excitement; the admiration had built slowly over the course of Kira's service to the church and now it seemed to be overtly apparent to everyone except, seemingly, the man himself. Kira opened his mouth expectantly, unable to properly meet the other man's gaze.

Father Ichimaru's spindly fingers gingerly picked up a wafer, holding it in front of Kira's open mouth, but not placing it directly on his tongue. Kira waited only a few heartbeats more before looking up and meeting the man's gaze, noticing the quirk of the priest's mouth as he did.

"Be mindful of your eye contact, lamb."

With that, the priest pressed the wafer to the other man's tongue. If he lingered a second longer to brush his fingertips against Kira's plush lower lip, he hadn't noticed.

With the Eucharist finished and mass drawing to an end, the altar servers and deacons went to work cleaning the rows of pews and reorganizing the altar, making sure not a hair was out of place. In the midst of sweeping, the head priest beckoned to Kira from his office door, drawing the man into the back room of the church.

"Father Ichimaru has requested your assistance in cleaning the sacristy."

Despite the hard thump of his own heartbeat in his ears, Kira gave a nod. The door closed. Father Ichimaru glanced up at him from across the room, grinning.

"Start sweeping the corner area over there, would you? The cobwebs have been building for years, I'm sure."

Kira set to work, quick to hop to Father Ichimaru's demands. Sweep, dust, polish. The two must have been working for hours in simple silence. Everytime Kira peered over his shoulder to take a look at the priest, Father Ichimaru's eyes had been locked on him, as if he were waiting to meet Kira's gaze. It made something strange boil in Kira's stomach, something that he had seldom felt outside of Father Ichimaru's presence. It was like worms had buried themselves deep in his gut, wriggling and crawling to burst to the surface; had it truly felt all bad, though?

"You know, Kira, I see great promise in you," Father Ichimaru had started, "There are few altar servers who show the enthusiasm you do."

"Well, I have to do my best to make it into the priesthood, right?" Kira had responded, trying hard not to trip over any of his words.

Father Ichimaru laughed, a soft little thing, and Kira's grip on his polishing cloth tightened. "Priesthood, hm? From what I recall, you're close to beginning your transitional deacon duties, right?"

"Yes. I complete my seminary time at the end of the month and begin my year the month after." Kira hadn't expected a hand to land on his shoulder, jumping at the sudden contact. He spun around, nearly colliding with the other priest in the room. He was standing so close that Kira was sure he could hear every cell in his body practically screaming out, a cacophony of confusion and insecurity. Kira looked down at his shoes, desperate to escape the priest's gaze.

Father Ichimaru clicked his tongue.

"Have you forgotten what I said, already?" The priest's hand moved. His index finger touched the underside of Kira's chin, tilting his head up to look at him. "Eye contact."

That feeling of _something_ pulsed in Kira's body from his head to his toes, lighting up in his chest like a fireworks display. Father Ichimaru's icy blue eyes were staring into his own, burning right through him as if he were thin as paper. What was it about this man that had Kira so stricken?

"I want to take you under my wing."

Kira gasped. His body was shaking under Father Ichimaru's cool touch, praying that his knees wouldn't give out. The man he had most admired wanted to nurture him. Wanted to teach him how to be like him, the man he'd desperately wanted to be since he began his theological education and Father Ichimaru was a simple deacon.

"You're shivering," Father Ichimaru noted, "But your face is flushed. Are you feeling unwell, Kira?" The priest was clearly playing with him, his cat-like smile giving away some sort of humor.

"N-No, Father. I'm honored," Kira beamed, "I appreciate your kindness more than I can say. I want to follow in your footsteps, Father Ichimaru. I'll do my best."

Father Ichimaru's smile somehow grew wider, hand removing itself from his chin to rest comfortably on Kira's shoulder yet again. "Good. I expected nothing less from you, Kira." The priest turned to head back to his work, and Kira couldn't explain the disappointment he felt at having the man's hand leave his shoulder.

"Oh, and, Kira?" The priest added, not even turning from where he had picked up the stack of papers he had been leading through on the desk. "When it's just the two of us, like this, please; call me Gin."


	2. Chapter 2

The next month flew by in a breeze and the month after that even quicker. Kira had been welcomed as a deacon, Father Ichimaru-- or, Gin, as Kira had come to know him as when they were alone-- had been a doting and effective mentor, and now more than ever Kira had felt like his life was on the right track.

It was later into the evening after hosting a group of seminary students and giving them a brief education on how the church went about its daily routine that Kira found himself in the sacristy yet again, Gin sitting at the desk across from him with an inkwell and stack of paperwork. They were charity forms that had to be read through and signed, and Gin had taken on the workload to show Kira how it was to be done properly.

After a long stretch of deliberate silence, Gin gently placed the pen back down next to the papers, crossing his hands over one another on the desk.

"Kira, why do you want to become a priest?" The man was looking at Kira with that signature smile that made his stomach flip, but he didn't dare look away; eye contact, after all.

"Because this church gave me a home when I didn't have one," the answer had been simple and honest, but Gin knew when Kira was deflecting. Gin raised an eyebrow as if to say, _'Is that all?'_

Kira sighed and laid down his own pen, mimicking the man's posture and hand placement without particularly meaning to. "Losing my parents had made me quite hopeless. I had… struggled a lot growing up, and one day it was snowing and I wanted to get out of the cold, so Father Aizen welcomed me in, gave me food and a place to stay until the weather evened out." Kira tapped his fingers on the table, a nervous habit. "I felt… Welcomed here. Wanted. Like I could serve something greater than myself, like I truly meant something. The day I walked in changed my life, and I felt like I had a sense of purpose. And I want to continue serving that purpose." Kira hadn't realized how solemn he'd gotten throughout his little speech until the familiar burning behind his eyes started up. Before he could move his fidgety hands to wipe what he was sure was pooling at the corners of his eyes, Gin had reached across the table and placed both hands on top of his own.

"You poor, poor thing." The words combined with Gin's gentle warmth on his hands made electricity shoot down the deacon's spine. Despite his best efforts, Kira could feel the tears start to stream down his cheeks, dripping wetness to the hardwood desk below him.

Gin had risen from his chair, making his was around to the other side of the table next to Kira. At first he feared that the priest was going to scold him, tell him to quit his crying, that he had no reason to. Before Kira could apologize, the man's lithe arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulling Kira back against his chest. A hand snaked its way into his hair, tenderly petting at the golden locks that flowed down to his shoulders.

Just the realization that someone like Gin was being so kind to him, so accommodating and _sweet_ made Kira's tears flow heavier, until he was weeping in his superior's arms. His hands feebly clutched for one of the arms wrapped around his shoulders, burying his face into the soft, pristine fabric of Gin's temple robes. He smelled fresh and clean and for a moment Kira wished he could bury himself in the scent. Whatever strange feeling Kira had for the man seemed to skyrocket, jumbling up his organs in a way that was equal parts sickening and indescribably pleasant; if this is what it meant to feel cared for, he could deal with a little sickness.

"You've come from somewhere so difficult, and yet you've made it all the way here. I'm _very_ proud of you."

Kira was sniffling like a child, trying to bite his lip and stifle whatever noises he was making for fear of embarrassing himself. Gin's long fingers in his hair didn't stop their movement, his body firm and unmoving behind him.

"You are serving a wonderful purpose, Kira. As long as you have me, I will never let you feel useless, okay? You will always have your purpose with me."


End file.
